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Governor Ratcliffe
“''This is my land! I make the laws here! And I say anyone who so much as looks at an Indian without killing him on sight, will be tried for treason and hanged!” ―Ratcliffe to Smith '''Governor Ratcliffe' is the main antagonist of Disney's 1995 animated feature film Pocahontas and the sequel Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World voiced by David Ogden Stiers. Background Physical Appearance Ratcliffe is an obese adult man with long black hair tied up into short pigtails with red ribbons, thick black eyebrows, and notable lavender eyelids. He is most often seen in a rose-colored long-sleeved shirt with a long V-cut neckline underneath a crimson coat with lavender collar and cuffs, black linings on the chest and waistline, and a crimson colonial hat with a blue feather on its black band with a blue-silk medallion resting around his neck to top his sophisticated look off. He also wears crimson keen-length pants, lavender calf-high socks, black colonial boots, and red cape. In his imagination and at the King's ball, he wore a golden version of his uniform with a red medallion. Personality Like most Disney Villains, Ratcliffe is very power-hungry. He is unbelievably greedy, as evidenced by his insatiable craving for gold, which would make him a very wealthy man. He is also highly xenophobic (even for the period in which he lives), ruthless and incredibly manipulative. It is also interesting how he shares this similarity to Henry Bowers from the novel and film IT by Stephen King. While he exudes great confidence and gives the impression of being rather vain, Ratcliffe in fact seems to take a rather dim view of himself, admitting in a rather sad tone of voice that he has never been a popular man. This, in addition to the fact that his fellow members of the court consider him a "pathetic social climber", making him a sympathetic character in spite of his villainy. His mission to colonies the Native-Americans is his last chance to make a name for himself. Ratcliffe's lack of self-esteem stands in contrast to the egomania of most Disney villains, such as Sarousch, making him somewhat unique. Despite his self-confessed lack of popularity, Ratcliffe seems quite charismatic and commands the respect of his troops until the end of the film. Similar to Judge Claude Frollo, Ratcliffe actually believes that he is a good person and refuses to find fault in himself. He believes what he does to be in the name of the crown and even goes as far to call John Smith a liar, sees the land he found as his own, believes what Pocahontas told Smith to be lies and even calls his own men traitors at the end. He also believes himself to be powerful as he threatens his men that he will have them hanged or executed when they turn on him at the end of the film. Unlike most Disney villains Ratcliffe is calm and collected for most of the two films. For example when John Smith tells him there is no gold in Virgina Ratcliffe rather than lose his temper insists in a stubborn voice that is a 'lie' and will hang anyone who refuses to shoot an Indian. However, he does get flustered at times but is easily calmed. Ratcliffe is also sarcastic as he 'praises' John Smith for saving Thomas which implies he is actually disappointed that Thomas didn't drown. In the second film, he flirts with Pocohontas at the ball and mocks about John's death in a sarcastic voice. Ratcliffe is also somewhat lazy as he just slouches off eating food like chicken while the settlers including Thomas, Ben and Lon do all the work digging for gold. He also lets his men finish setting up camp in the rain while he keeps bone dry in his tent.